26 February 2009

Holder Says Federal Raids on Marijuana Dispensaries Will End

The new Obama Administration is taking a more moderate approach on medical marijuana. Jeralyn Merritt at Talk Left has video and transcripts of Attorney General Eric Holder's news conference where he is asked if the Justice Department will continue raids on "medical marijuana dispensaries in states that have legalized medical marijuana."

Holder says no and President Barack Obama is "formally and technically by law
my boss now, and so what he said during campaign is now American
policy."

Holder's comments were ,made as he stood next to Drug Enforcement Agency Acting Administrator Michelle Leonhart (above) "who has overseen the most
recent federal medical marijuana raids, including those that took place
after Obama's inauguration." It's a significant development because Obama campaigned on relaxing federal restrictions and interventions against medical marijuana.

This is additional good news along with Obama picking the Seattle Police Chief as Drug Czar, someone who also makes sure that marijuana arrests are the lowest priority for the police to handle. We have HempFest every year in Seattle and the cops basically go there to make sure that no one's disturbing the peace while everyone's toking up in front of them. It's kind of a funny thing to see. I wonder how many cops get a contact high at 4:20 that day.

Honestly, I don't get what's so bad about marijuana that demands drug raids and strict enforcement by the DEA. Sounds like a waste of tax payer money to me.

Would it not be a tool for economic recovery to legalize marijuana, gaining additional revenue from taxing (as much or more than we tax cigarettes), saving money from drug enforcement, allowing regulation, stimulate economy in trade and setting up official distribution channels with our neighbors south of the border.

All of these advantages... but I guess it would just make too much sense for our government to partake.